No Excuses

You have no excuses not to know God's will. Darin and Brooke Aldridge and the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet offer some bluegrass gospel hints.

My goodness, but I get tired of hearing the pathetic excuses that church men make to keep from doing the right thing. And when I say church men, I mean men at the highest levels -- authors, speakers, celebrities, "icons" (as Christianity Today so cluelessly labeled William Wilberforce).

God gets tired of it, too. Here's what He has to say to all those "icons" in Ezekiel 14:1-3, "Then certain of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. And the word of the Lord came to me: 'Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces. Should I indeed let myself be consulted by them?'"

Think of it: The self-satisfied mega-preacher with the all-access pass to the Most High suddenly gets cut off at the knees, so to speak. No more leading, no more crazy miracles, no more intimacy with God.

It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Does the "man of God" who takes idols -- say, his own wisdom or his position in the hierarchy -- into his heart deserve any less? 

We're talking about the leader of the flock here, and God says, "Flock, you're on your own." Verses 4-5: "Therefore speak to them and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Any one of the house of Israel who takes his idols into his heart and sets the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to the prophet, I the Lord will answer him as he comes with the multitude of his idols, that I may lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel, who are all estranged from me through their idols."

That is, you're on your own if you've been counting on the reigning celebrity at your local mega-church to lead you. If you're looking to God, those two verses will tell you a lot about how to avoid a real problem. If the preacher has led you astray, you need to deal with it. How?

Find out where your sin is and get rid of it.

How do you figure that out?

Ask God to show you your sin, and to heal you.

How do you do that?

Through prayer and Bible study.

If you don't clean up your act, if you come to Him while you're in sin, asking Him to do favors for you, He will answer you with the full force of His wrath.

That's where your beloved mega-preacher has left you. On the plus side, this mess gives you an opportunity to cultivate a level of intimacy with God that your self-seeking celebrity preacher may never achieve. 

Verses 6-8: "Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, who separates himself from me, taking his idols into his heart and putting the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and yet comes to a prophet to consult me through him, I the Lord will answer him myself. And I will set my face against that man; I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the Lord."

So, you can cultivate intimacy or that other thing. Yikes! Much better to "know that I am the Lord" by humbling ourselves and making the first move, don't you think?

I hear you telling me.

God says that that cynicism just might save your bacon. If there is anything you understand about today's post, understand this from verses 9-11: "And if the prophet is deceived and speaks a word, I, the Lord, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. And they shall bear their punishment—the punishment of the prophet and the punishment of the inquirer shall be alike—that the house of Israel may no more go astray from me, nor defile themselves anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be my people and I may be their God, declares the Lord God."

For all practical purposes, within the scope of this blog, when God says "the prophet," He means me. If I've deceived anyone with a single word of this blog, I'm going to get clobbered (It scares the liver out of me -- thanks for asking). Sadly, those whom I've deceived will suffer the same fate.

What to do, what to do?

Whatever you do, don't believe me.

I'm serious; do not do it.

If you've been convicted by one word of what I've said here, verify it. If you're not entirely sure, verify it. If you think I'm spouting a bunch of hooey, verify it.

How do you do that again?

Talk to God. And if you're so full of sin that He won't hear you?

Jesus says it in Matthew 4:17, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Again, to repent means to turn away from sin completely. It does not mean calling a press conference; giving a wooden reading of a badly-scripted apology; or making the rounds of the talk shows. It means you don't do that sin again -- ever.

What about those kinds of sins we talked about yesterday in "An NC-17 Parable", the kind you can't get rid of on your own?

You know this one, but don't gloss over it: John 3:16-17 reads, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

In John 16:26-27 Jesus tells us, "... I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God."

If you love Him and believe in Him, Jesus will forgive your sins, and you will be healed.

Remember how Jesus healed the paralytic in Matthew 9:2-7? Remember what He said about healing then?

"And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.' And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, 'This man is blaspheming.' But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, 'Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? but that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins'—he then said to the paralytic—'Rise, pick up your bed and go home.' And he rose and went home." (Emphasis mine)

Jesus can forgive you of your sins, He can heal you of them. All you have to do is ask.

And then?

Keep praying -- for guidance, strength, instruction, wisdom, sustenance, comfort, peace, and love -- for anything and everything you need.

How do you figure that out when sin has always dictated your "needs"?

Get to know the mind of God -- what He wants for you and what He wants from you.

How can you learn all that?

Read your Bible. Don't have one? There are any number of free translations online. Most of the time, I use the English Standard Version here, if only for clarity's sake. The New Living Translation is a little colloquial for my taste, but it often elucidates difficult passages in a way no other translation does. A lot of people like the New International Version. I think it's serviceable, but the ESV does a better job. If you're old-school, maybe the linguistic beauty and dignity of the King James Version are for you, perhaps with the New King James Version on hand for clarity. Personally, I jump around a lot. You may be comfortable doing the same. Experiment, and figure out which method is the right one for you. Each one of those hyperlinks leads to free versions of those translations. If you want to jump around, you'll find all those translations and more at Blue Letter Bible and at Bible Gateway. No endorsement of those sites, their affiliates, partners, advertisers, or any opinion stated on those sites is expressed or implied.

If you're reading this, you have access to a computer and to the Internet. If you have access to a computer and the Internet, you have no excuse not to dive into the Bible.

That's what this whole post is about, really: No excuses. There's no one -- good, bad, or indifferent -- in your way; there never has been. God doesn't just wish for a personal relationship with you; if you're going to bear good fruit, He demands it.

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:15-20)

Two videos today:  First up, here's Darin and Brooke Aldridge with "Get Down and Pray."

And here are Roy Clark, Buck Owens, Grandpa Jones, and Kenny Price, a.k.a. the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet with "Dust On the Bible."